Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom tacú leis an mBille seo ar son Sinn Féin.Sinn Féin supports the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2015, which, as has been said, seeks to provide for the commissioned rank of Vice Admiral in the Defence Forces. The rank of Vice Admiral is the naval equivalent of the Army rank of Lieutenant General, and the holder of this rank has traditionally assumed the role of Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces.

The Government has introduced the Bill to ensure that Rear Admiral Mark Mellett, who has been working as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces since November 2013, can take over as Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces when Lieutenant General Conor O'Boyle retires in September. As Rear Admiral Mellett will be the first Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces to be selected from outside the Army, it is necessary to create the new Vice Admiral post.

When Rear Admiral Mellett was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff, and began as Rear Admiral, it was the first time the three military wings of the Army, the Naval Service and the Air Corps had held the top three jobs in the Defence Forces. It is welcome and important that the Army, the Naval Service and the Air Corps are represented in the general staff of the Defence Forces, and that for the first time the Chief of Staff will be selected from outside the Army. Therefore, on behalf of Sinn Féin, I wish Rear Admiral Mellett all the best in his promotion. Since he joined the Naval Service he has had a distinguished career, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1994 in recognition of the role of his ship, the LE Orla, in detaining the Brime, which was a drug-smuggling yacht. His appointment definitely signals the importance of the Naval Service to the country. This can be most clearly seen in the fantastic work that the LE Eithne, a ship that Rear Admiral Mellett once commanded, is doing in the Mediterranean. It has saved almost 3,400 migrants and is now on its way back to Ireland, to be replaced by the LE Niamh, which has already set sail from Ireland.

Rear Admiral Mark Mellett is taking over at a time of change, as the Government plans to launch its White Paper on Defence. Sinn Féin made clear in our submission to the White Paper on Defence that we feel that Irish neutrality is under severe threat and that more must be done to in order to secure Ireland's position as a neutral state. É sin ráite, ba mhaith liom tréaslú leis an Uasal Mellett. Guím gach rath air ina chuid oibre. Tá an obair atá ar bun aige fíorthábhachtach. Tá súil agam go n-éireoidh leis agus guím gach rath ar na fir agus na mná ar fad atá ag obair in éindí leis.